1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to closed circuit television, and more particularly, to a video server device with a power port for powering a closed circuit television camera.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) differs from broadcast television in that video signals captured by CCTV cameras are viewable only at specified locations. CCTV is utilized by banks, schools, and even governments to prevent crimes, such as theft, and as an aid to law enforcement officials in solving crimes. CCTV may also be utilized in plants, where conditions are unsafe for a human observer to be present, but monitoring of events is necessary.
As Internet infrastructure has grown in scale, and network equipment costs have come down, Internet Protocol cameras (IPCAMs) are growing in popularity as a potential replacement for traditional CCTV cameras. IPCAMs combine digital video capture technology with data networking technology to provide remote access and control of the IPCAM. An IPCAM may utilize a digital sensor to capture digital video signals, and a network transceiver for transmitting the digital video signals over a network connection to another networked device, such as a personal computer, or a monitoring station. The network transceiver may also receive control signals for controlling pan, tilt, and zoom (PTZ) of the IPCAM. The digital video signals and the control signals may be transmitted/received to/from the other networked device over a wired network connection or a wireless network connection.
Although IPCAMs provide many benefits to users, much security camera infrastructure utilizing traditional CCTV technology already exists. To provide the networking advantages of IPCAM technology to an existing CCTV system, a video server may be installed alongside each CCTV camera. The video server may include digitization circuitry for receiving analog video signals from the CCTV camera, and converting the analog video signals into digital video signals. The video server may also include network circuitry for serving the digital video signals through a network connection. Thus, a traditional CCTV camera video signal feed may be viewed through the Internet by connecting to the video server.
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a video server 100. The video server 100 is connected to a CCTV camera 110 through a video line for receiving analog video signals from the CCTV camera 110. The CCTV camera 110 further requires power to operate, and thus is connected to a power socket 120 through a power line for receiving direct current power, e.g. 12 Volts. When installing the video server 100, the power socket 120 may not be conveniently located in the vicinity of the CCTV camera 110. Thus, it may be necessary to spend time trying to find the power socket 120, which may make installation both difficult and inconvenient. Further, if the power socket 120 is located far from the CCTV camera 110, installation becomes even more of a problem, increasing length of a power cable used for connecting the CCTV camera 110 to the power socket 120.